1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and a reception notifying method, and particularly to sending notification of reception of image information to an outer terminal in an IFAX apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,233, there is proposed an Internet facsimile apparatus (hereinafter referred to as IFAX) which receives e-mail and prints it.
This IFAX gains access to a mail server periodically and receives e-mail, and automatically prints the content of the received e-mail by a printer. A user watches printed materials discharged to a paper-charging tray, and knows the arrival of data.
However, it is general that IFAX is shared by a plurality of users in an office, etc. For this reason, IFAX is not always set up at a site nearby all users. For example, if IFAX is set up at a different room or on a different floor, the user must go to the location where IFAX is set up to check whether e-mail is arrived to the user or ask the other person to check the e-mail.
In order to solve such inconvenience, it is considered that IFAX transmits e-mail, which informs that e-mail to the user is received, to a mail address, which the user normally employs on PC. However, in order to read this e-mail, it is necessary to access to a mail sever by a mailer executed on PC. For this reason, It has not been realized that the user is notified of e-mail arrival at IFAX in real time.
Such a problem is not limited to IFAX, and this similarly occurs in a case in which FAX data is received in image multi-function system, which is connected to LAN and which mounts a facsimile communication function thereon.
It is an object of the present invention is to provide a communication apparatus, which is capable of notifying an outer terminal of data reception in substantially real time, and to provide a reception notifying method.
The communication apparatus of the present invention publishes a hypertext, which has an applet embedded therein, to an outer terminal, performs communications with the applet executed by a browser on the outer terminal to which the hypertext is opened and transmits reception notification to the outer terminal when detecting reception of information so that notification of reception is performed at the outer terminal by the applet.
This makes it possible to notify the reception of information obtained by the communication apparatus at the outer terminal without installing software dedicated to the outer terminal.